Pride
by artemisathena0107
Summary: After running away from their parents, will the Black triplets be able to find refuge at Hogwarts with the Potter twins, a were-wolf, his sister and a know-it-all perfectionist? Can the eight Marauders deal with being illegal animagi and having supernatural talents? Supernatural for witches and wizards at least. SBxOC, JPxOC, RLxOC and LExOC


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own Nathalie Lupin, Arabelle Black and Calista Black so please don't steal. It's not nice :L**

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CHAPTER ONE  
London

Sirius Black slept on the bed between his two sisters. The three fifteen year-old triplets had slightly curly black hair and grey eyes that seemed misty and glazed over while being clear as day. Arabelle Kyla Black still had her hair tied up in a messy bun with a few stray ringlets framing her pale heart-shaped face while her sister Calista Grace Black's hair was scraped back into a tight ponytail. Calista rolled over slightly, softly elbowing Sirius in the face. He hissed through gritted teeth in pain and flinched away from his sister. Sirius tentatively touched the tender bruise below his cheek. It was large, a little bigger than his father's fist, and it was a repulsive mauve-lilac, tinged with yellow at the edges.

Sirius clambered out of the single bed, leaving a space that Arabelle quickly filled, subconsciously shuffling away from the edge. He sat on his brown trunk against the wardrobe and looked around the room of the Leaky Cauldron.

It was tiny. They had been charged a quarter of the normal rate for this room, it was normally the home of Tom the bartender, but he was away and his cover already had lodging so the grotty room was vacant. The walls didn't seem to be quite straight and the white paint was faded enough to make them a tie-dye of grey, brown and light mint with rat-chewed wooden skirting-boards joining them to the threadbare brown carpet. It seemed once to have been a rich, dark crimson at one point, and still retained hints of burgundy in some corners of the room, but was mostly the colour of cotton and mouse fur. There was a coat hanger in the corner that held Sirius' brown mac and Arabelle and Calista's overcoats, deep purple and green respectively. The two girls still wore there dresses from the party they had been at just hours ago. Arabelle's was a soft lilac skater dress made of silk with pale grey lace over it while Calista's was peach chiffon with a black collar. Sirius watched them in calm silence reflecting on the events of just hours ago. His father had done it again and this time Sirius had been there to stop him.

His father was a despicable man with pale beady eyes like a vulture's, that seemed to swivel after you when you moved. Sirius hated those frosty eyes with their icy blue, and their cold white. His father's hair was grey and made him look twenty years older than he actually was. His grabby hands and his fatty chin were enough to make you despise the man without the constant odour of spirit. He had pink stubs for fingers that were constantly wrapped around a bottle of expensive red wine or brandy from the liqueur cabinet. Sirius hated his father, and his mother at that. Mrs Black was a sour-faced, tight-lipped woman who knew what her father did to Arabelle but turned away from it, ignoring her teenage daughter's screams of protest in the night. Arabelle had always been more desirable than Calista. Of course, Cali was stunning, all of the young Blacks were, but Arabelle's cheek bones were more prominent and her eyes had sparkling flecks of green amidst the glistening grey. Sirius sighed as the pink of daylight crept between the dirty blinds, and put his hands on his knees, pushing up from the trunk and walking to the bed.

"Ari, Cali, get up," Sirius whispered, shaking Calista's shoulder, as she was closest to him. The girls stirred, groaning slightly at the awakening before clambering out of the bed. "We've got to leave."

"Sirius? Do we have time to change? I feel," Arabelle fumbled for a word before hissing "dirty." Sirius nodded in understanding. His father had tried to rape Arabelle again last night. He had done so most nights for the past seven years but Sirius had always been locked in his room by his mother, but last night she was too drunk to notice the door on the way into Grimmauld Place. Arabelle grabbed her trunk and carried it into the bathroom before locking the door, leaving Sirius with Calista, who sat on the edge of the rickety bed with her head propped up on her elbow.

"What's wrong Cali?" Sirius asked, sitting next to her. She looked up at him.

"Where do we go now Sirius? We have no home, hardly any money and no family besides the three of us," Calista vented, Sirius hugged her tightly before standing up and walking to the door.

"We'll travel by floo to Hogwarts. I know it's Summer, but Dumbledore can probably give us tutoring to catch up with everyone else before term starts and then we can settle in to class in September. We don't need anyone other than us three," Sirius told her before leaving to check-out of the room, trunk in hand. Arabelle and Calista joined him a few minutes after, both with their trunks and sad looks on their faces.

Despite their morbid expressions, both of the girls looked beautiful. Arabelle's pale green jeans were high waisted and tightened above her waist by a gold belt. A white shirt tucked into the trousers with a black denim jacket over it while Calista wore blue denim shorts, and a baggy vintage yellow t-shirt with purple graphic prints of old 80s bands across the front. They stepped into the fireplace and, even though no words were exchanged between the three fifteen-year olds, they all knew that they were beginning again.

"Dumbledore's Office!" Sirius shouted and threw the floo powder onto the ashy base of the fireplace in which the triplets stood. Green flames roared up around them and Arabelle felt her body twisting as she was sucked through the Floo Network. She stepped out of an ornate oak fireplace in a large round room. Every inch of wall space was covered in paintings of bearded men or knights on horses and, at a large desk in the centre of the circular office, sat a man not dissimilar to those in the portraits.

He wore purple robes, and silver half-moon glasses upon his kindly face. His wispy beard tumbled to his knees and he had an air of wisdom and power around him, even though he was fondling stroking the Phoenix beside him.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Sirius asked and the man looked up, "I'm Sirius Black and these are my sisters Arabelle and Calista. We were wondering if we would be able to enrol here. We've been forced to leave home and were tutored up until a few weeks ago, so have nowhere to learn, or to live," Sirius explained animatedly. Dumbledore's creased face softened with pity. He stood and swept towards the teenagers before warmly shaking their hands.

"Of course, I will make accommodation for you before you are Sorted in September. Until then, I will see if I can arrange a timetable for you, just an hour or two a day, so you can recap everything you have learned and make sure that the three of you are not at a disadvantage to the other Fifth Years. You are very welcome to stay up until Seventh Year, if you are capable academically, of course. Sadly, we are not a charity." Sirius nodded and Arabelle looked close to tears. She had always been told at home- no, that place was no home of hers, told in Hell that she wasn't clever, and she would have to marry a rich man to avoid living on the streets. Of course, all of the Black children were very intelligent but telling the girls they would never survive on their own made hem more willing to marry a partner chosen for them by their drunk of a father.

"Thank you Professor," Arabelle said gratefully. Her voice was quiet and her eyes distant, she was thinking about her father. "We're sorry to be a burden." Dumbledore was sympathetic towards the children and reached into the top drawer of his desk before handing Arabelle a twisted silver key. She looked up at him inquisitively.

"It unlocks the Cadwell suite on the Seventh floor. It is normally reserved for visitors to the school but feel free to make your home there," Dumbledore explained. "We dine in the Great Hall at half past seven in the morning and six in the evening, and at twelve in between. If you would care to join me, I was just about to head down for breakfast." Arabelle nodded, reaching into her pocket before taking out her wand and a piece of ribbon. She threaded the ribbon through the key and tied it around the handle of her trunk. Arabelle flicked her wand, charming the bags to go to the Cadwell Suite and they floated out of the door behind them before disappearing down the stairs. Dumbledore was impressed and gestured for the Black triplets to follow him down to the Great Hall. A conversation was struck up between Calista, Sirius and the headmaster, and they talked excitedly about Quidditch and Arabelle's knack for seeker but she remained silent. Dumbledore was curious about her past but he didn't push it, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

When they entered the Great Hall, the civilised conversation of the teachers dropped as the twelve adults saw the four people that had walked through the door. The long table at the front of the Hall held only two vacant seats, one in the middle, obviously reserved for Professor Dumbledore, and another near the left end of the long oak table. Professor Dumbledore waved his knotted wooden wand and one of the benches from the house tables flew in front of the teachers' table. The teenagers sat at the wooden bench and Professor Dumbledore walked around the table to sit in his ornate wooden chair.

"Albus, would you mind introducing us to your guests?" a grey-haired woman wearing a crooked, deep green velvet hat asked.

"Of course Minerva," Professor Dumbledore replied to the lady in green robes. "These children are going to be joining us for their Fifth Year. Go on, introduce yourselves." Dumbledore gestured to the Blacks and they looked to one another.

"I'm Calista Grace Black, these are my siblings Sirius and Arabelle Kyla Black," Calista introduced. "We were home-schooled before we," she paused to search for a word that wasn't too incriminating, "left." Calista decided upon. Minerva nodded.

"I'm Professor McGonagoll, head of Gryffindor House, deputy headmistress and teacher of transfiguration. I trust you will put all of your effort into your academia?" Minerva hinted. Calista and Sirius nodded while Arabelle looked at her hands that were clasped together in her lap, only looking up when the door behind the table swung upon with a creek. A ragged man appeared, his black hair streaked with grey and his silver eyes twinkling with exhaustion and mischief.

"Sorry I'm late Albus, I was just writing a letter to my sister. It seems my nephew and nieces have left and you know how the old cow gets when she-" the man stopped upon seeing the children. Arabelle jumped up and ran into the arms of her Uncle Alphard, sobbing uncontrollably. "Oh Merlin Belle! What did he do this time?"

"Sirius stopped him," Arabelle told her uncle between hiccups, "but he nearly killed me Uncle Alphie." she wept. Alphard Black patted his niece's back comfortingly while Calista and Sirius walked over to him. Cali hugged him tightly and Sirius nodded to him, not wanting to upset Arabelle.

"Shh, it's alright Belle. The drunk git can't touch you now okay?" Alphard reassured her and she took a step back, wiping away her tears and looking embarrassed at her outburst. "Now let's sit down to eat shall we?"

The next few weeks passed easily with the Blacks being tutored in Potions, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Charms. Arabelle excelled academically and, even though her siblings were intelligent, the Professors were far happier with her magical abilities than that of her brother and sister. As the days grew shorter, Arabelle spent more of her evenings in the library while Sirius and Calista used the time to explore the castle. In the times that Arabelle had not been engrossed in a thigh leather bound book, the three of them had scoured the school for the houses and found all four of them, along with a number of passageways, making a map of the castle. Sirius creatively called it 'The Marauder's Map," because he was daring, he had told them at the time. They ate breakfast with their Uncle Alphard every morning and he hadn't told their mother of their whereabouts in his letters to her. They had yet to learn what Alphard taught but whenever it was discussed, Calista distracted the family with stories of the passageways and tunnels throughout the school.

On the day before term, the triplets were packing their bags in the Cadwell Suite. Arabelle was changing in the bathroom into a dark blue dress that brushed lightly halfway across her thighs. A knock at the door caused them to Calista and Sirius to lose their concentration and the clothes that had been flying around the room from cabinet to trunk fell to the ground.

"Come in," Sirius called and the door swung open revealing a scarlet robe clad Professor Dumbledore. "Good morning Professor, what can we do for you?" he asked as Calista fiddled with the short sleeve of the knee length grey sweater dress she was wearing.

"The other students are arriving soon so you will be finding out what house you are in in," Dumbledore checked his watch, "half an hour. You are expected in the hall in five minutes." Sirius nodded and showed Dumbledore out of the suite before turning to Calista.

"Ari?" Calista called through the door. It opened and Arabelle walked out, fiddling with a narrow silver belt, "We've got to be in the Great Hall in five minutes."

"Ok," Arabelle mumbled, "thanks Cali." Sirius pulled on his black robes and Arabelle and Calista did the same just seconds after. They made their way down to the Great Hall, getting there just as the First Years were shuffling around outside the door. Pprofessor McGonagoll was attempting to herd them into a line and waved to the Blacks as they entered the Hall. They walked to their usual seat, in front of the teachers table, with their cloaks billowing out behind them and their footsteps echoing around the large room. The Blacks had always had this air of nobility around them and their natural authoritative manner coupled with their good looks, made the Blacks popular and iconic in many cases. Students were packed into the Hall and there were five students on the table to their immediate right, the Gryffindor table, that caught Sirius' eye. A red-haired girl sat next another girl, one who had platinum blonde hair with blue tips. The white-haired girl was sat opposite two boys with scruffy black hair and blue eyes, one of whom wore black round-rimmed glasses with a devilish grin. A brown-haired, calm-looking boy sat next to the girl with pale hair.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," Dumbledore's voice boomed through the whole and the stares of the student body swivelled away from the Blacks and towards the Headmaster. "This year we have, as well as the First Years, three new Fifth Years. They will be Sorted after the First Years and we hope you will welcome your new classmates." During this short speech, Arabelle and Sirius had been whispering to Professor McGonagoll, who insisted they call her Minerva outside of class. When Dumbledore finished, the Hall stayed quiet apart from a giggle from Arabelle. It sounded like a high pitched peal of bells, but not irritatingly, more sweet and innocent. The black haired boy with glasses stared at her for longer than the other students and met Arabelle's gaze from across the room. She smiled and he grinned in return, making her blush and tuck her thick black behind her ear bashfully.

"Aston, Rihannon." McGonagoll called loudly. Arabelle and the black-haired boy turned quickly to the transfiguration teachers, having been lost in each other while she started the Sorting, completely missing the Sorting Hat's song about houses and teamwork. "Black, Arabelle," she got up from her chair as White comma Freddie sat down in Ravenclaw. Arabelle glided swiftly over to the rickety stool, perching gracefully on the wooden chair while McGonagoll placed the hat on her head.

"Child of distort, sickening past, recover first and crumble last. Kind heart of a Hufflepuff, wiser than any Ravenclaw, sharp mind of a Slytherin but still the lion's beauty is Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat finished with a shout and the red and gold table erupted into raucous applause while the blue and yellows clapped politely, and Slytherin remained silently or winked suggestively at Arabelle.

She had chuckled at the last line. 'Lion's beauty,' that's what her name meant, she thought as she walked along the centre aisle towards the black-haired boy, who was waving her over. He slid up the bench so she would have space to sit down and she climbed elegantly into the seat.

"Hello Arabelle, my name is James Potter," the black-haired boy with glasses said before pointing to the the others. "This is Remus Lupin and his sister Nathalie," James pointed to the boy with brown hair and the pale girl with blue highlights then to the redhead, "this is Lily Evans and this is my twin brother Matthew Leo Flynn Potter." Arabelle shook hands with all of them before introducing herself.

"My name's Arabelle Kyla Black, my brother up there is Sirius and the one about to be Sorted is my sister Calista Grace Black," Arabelle said, "but you can call me Ari and Calista likes being called Cali." Arabelle was never normally this open around strangers but something about James made her feel comfortable and safe, so she fell back into her old ways.

"Calista Black!" McGonagoll shouted and Arabelle's sister moved to sit on the stool.

"Healing blood within these veins, perfect though with many flaws, power enough to save the insane, belongs only in Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat yelled and Cali skipped over to slide into the small space next to her sister while the Gryffindor table cheered. As Sirius sat where his sister had been when McGonagoll yelled his name, the Hat spouted another rhyme: "Master of light could be a blue, or green with cunning and wit. A kind heart could be a Hufflepuff but the flame of Gryffindor need be lit!" Sirius walked over to join his sisters, sitting across the table from them next to Nathalie.

"You guys are like us then I guess," Remus mused.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked between bites of chicken. Remus put his fork down at the edge of his plate and the other seven Fifth Years stopped talking to listen to him.

"When we were sorted we had a rhyme as well. It isn't normal for the Hat to take so long to sort someone and for all eight of us he mentioned a special talent," Remus was cut off by Dumbledore announcing that dinner was over and the students should head up to their dormitories. "Come on, we'll tell you in the Common Room. Hopefully you'll be in dormitories with us."

After putting their trunks at the foot of their beds, Lily, Arabelle, Calista and Nathalie headed back down to the Common Room where the four boys had bagsied the comfy red sofas and the rug by the fireplace. Ari led on the ground while James sat cross-legged next to her, leaning against the arm of the brown leather armchair in which his brother Matthew sat. Calista, Sirius and Remus all sat on the couch while Nathalie perched comfortably on the arm of the sofa with Lily settling down next to Ari. "I'm a Frost Talent. It's quite rare for any wizard to have a talent but eight in one generation? That's unheard of. I can freeze water and move around ice and snow. Lily's Story Talent, James is Maker Talent, Nathalie is Wing Talent and Matthew's Mischief Talent. We've yet to name yours but I've got quite a good guess at what they are." Arabelle raised her hand sheepishly.

"I know mine already. I've known for quite a while actually, Animal Talent. I can talk to any animal and turn into non-magical ones." Arabelle paused, taking in the group's reactions, "Oh, and a hippogriff. I like them," she concluded.

"Story Talent means I'm really clever, as modestly as I can say that anyway, and I can persuade people to do things. Nat can make herself and others fly, Matthew's generally sneaky and can tell when he's being lied to and James could build you a telescope from a muggle pencil sharpener if he set his mind to it," Lily explained, gesturing animatedly with her hands. She turned to Remus and batted her eyelashes, "Remus, could you go and get us drinks from the kitchen please?" Remus nodded dumbly and walked out of the Common Room through the Portrait Hole. "Ta da!"

The seven remaining Fifth Years laughed.

"I guess we can tell you about the Marauder's Map then, after you told us so much," Sirius decided, pulling the parchment from a pocket deep in his black robes. "It's a charmed map of Hogwarts. We spent the summer finding secret passages throughout the castle, and it can also tell you where people are, even in animagus form." Everyone stiffened at that.

"This is awkward so I'm just going to put it out there," James broke the silence, "Hands up if you're an animagus, legal or not." All seven raised their hands and looked to one another laughing. "I'm a stag. Sirius?"

"For your information Prongsy, I'm a very well-groomed black Pedigree dog," Sirius boasted. Ari and Calista looked at each other and burst out laughing. Sirius, with an insulted look on his face, whined "What?"

"Mangy mutt more like Padfoot," Cali managed between shallow breaths. "I am Asia the Red Panda."

"Spirit the sparrow," Nathalie offered.

"I'm Pride the lioness," Arabelle introduced her animagus self. Lily volunteered to go next.

"Dusty the grey lop-eared rabbit, Matt's a chipmunk called Jinx and Remus, well he's not an animagus exactly. What goes howl once a month?" Lily asked cryptically.

"A were-wolf," Calista answered immediately and Lily nodded.

"I have an amazing idea!" Sirius announced after a few minutes spent in deep thought by the group. They turned to him expectantly, "We're breaking out tonight using the map to go full animagus and piss about with our talents!" he whisper-shouted.

It was decided then.

"See you at twelve Marauders!" the group parted and went to wait in their dormitories until midnight, when the games began.

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**I know it's long but hey ho.**

**Please review, that's why I haven't updated my other stories. When I don't get reviews, I don't have motivation to finish the stories. Soz dog, but that's how it is. R&R**

**artemisathena0107**

**Avalon xox**


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